When Darkness Veils His Face

"When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest in his unchanging grace."

Lovely lines from a powerful adaptation of a classic hymn. Poetic and true. Resonating with life changing potential.

 But sometimes we sing couplets like this like we're passing bridges on a motor way. Oh look, and it's gone.
...

When do we linger on words and meditate on the goodness of God reflected in them?
Some traditions do this well, but few do it justice.

When darkness hides his lovely face.

When you can't see him, or even grasp his reassuring hand in the midnight hours,
When you can't see the clock and understand how much longer you must endure this night,
When your thoughts of him are built solely around the consolation of past experience of his love;

Then;

 Rest in his unchanging grace.

Rest.

There you are, and it's midnight add infinitum, and your mind assails your senses.

The long dark night of the soul is sleepless.

Rest.

Do not pressure yourself into sleeping. It clearly doesn't work. Do not will yourself better. You will only end up frustrated and guilt laden.

Rest.

Desist from working at feeling better.

Rest.

Allow yourself to be carried,

By grace.

His grace that is free and full of joy in his presence.
His grace which does not depend on your activity or worth.
His grace which is driven by compassion and rooted in his love and mercy,

And His love for you.

Like a letter arriving from a distant loved one, remember that sweet grace, remember the face of him who loved you from eternity.

And he is unchanged and unchanging and will never be shaken or moved. He is not like the shifting shadows. He is the same.

Yesterday.

Today.

Forever.

His love never fails.

His abounding grace never ends or dies,

So rest,

Rest,

Rest, beloved,

And know that underneath are the everlasting arms.

Lean on them,

And nurture your soul,

Like a baby at suck,

Be still,
And know,
That he is God,

Even in this darkness,

And yes, this too shall pass,

But his love and goodness,
Shall endure forever.

Encounters

Apologies to those waiting on a blog yesterday. It all got a bit complicated and I am afraid it never quite materialised.

 

As if a blog ever 'materialises' independently of my organisation and effort!

 

One of the things that really struck me was the worship leader/song writer Aaron Keyes.

I realise that I should probably say 'one of the people who made an impression' but he really was and is a 'thing' to behold. All his qualities seem to exist in an understated fashion.

 

He is not particularly dynamic or charismatic (although he certainly has a laid back charm and general affability) but what he lacks in dynamism, he more than makes up for in character and integrity.

Here are a few things about him that impressed me.

 

1.He is humble.

He never seems to speak from a place of pride or self promotion.

 

2. He is secure in God.

There seems nothing needy about the way he speaks. He has the air of spiritual contentment.

 

3. He is generous

His ministry in leading a worship school (Ten Thousand Fathers) and even the way he presents his seminars is entirely collaborative.  Sacrificing (or at least down playing) his own image/reputation for the good of the whole. He used others from his crew interchangeably and always honoured them with his words.

 

4. He is real.

He frequently referred to lessons he had learned in Marriage counselling.  He shunned from the pulpit any idea of stigma or shame attached to the idea of needing counselling.  Citing rather the fact that if help is available he is going to take it.

And it is all about learning for the improvement,  for the greater good.

 

I was impressed with him last year too.

So I know he is consistent.

 

But last year I was listening to his words.

This year I was listening to his life.

 

It was just the overall impression made by a man in love with and committed to loving Jesus.

 

It was inspiring.

 

In the same spirit that Paul asked us to imitate him as he imitated Christ,  I wanted to hold up his example as a Godly model.

 

And one of the things that he spoke about this year was the need to get away from the concept of 'encounter'.

 

We often speak of encounters with God.

But,  he said,  an encounter is defined as a 'chance encounter with a stranger '.

"We don't want encounter",  he said. "we want relationship".

We don't want a wedding,  we want a marriage.

 

And the examples he gave from his own marriage showed me that it was this commitment to humbly learning and growing in the context of a loving relationship that was what I really need from my own relationship with God.

 

I don't want to spend my life waiting for an encounter or experience to changed me.

I don't want to spend my life focusing on a wedding and miss my marriage.

 

Love is not fly by night.

Love is in the long haul.

Love is in the minutiae.

Love is patient and endures long.

Love is not self seeking.

Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Love rejoices with the truth.

 

You get the picture.

 

To grow in these things with God,  we must not be enamoured with the temporal highs of an encounter. Instead  we must be resolute in the earthy fleshing out of the love that we are shown.

And these things will,  I believe,  make us fruitful, like Aaron Keyes.

 

Humble, secure, generous and real.

I could settle for that,

 

This day,

Any day,

Amen.

Mission Worship

So, this morning,  after my weekend away at the worship conference 'Mission Worship', I want to take some moments aside from Romans to reflect on some of the themes I am taking home with me from that conference.

 

I attended the Conference with a group of friends from the local Baptist Church.  They are all involved in some capacity in the worship ministry of that church. I am not involved in that way in mine,  but the nature of the conference is such that any christian could come and get a lot out of it.

I may not be a musical worship leader,  but I am a worshipper.  As are all God's children.

And a distinction was bought in the teaching of the conference itself between the word 'worship' and the act of worshipping through music.

 

In our congregation my pastor will often point out that when the singing is over and we are moving into the sermon time,  that we will now be worshipping by listening to the word.

Sung worship is just one aspect of our life of worship.

 

Because to the Christian, all things are worship.

 

All things are through Him and by Him and to Him and For Him.

In reading this now, you are as much in worship as you were at the highest point of your Sunday service.

He is the source of all things and every good gift comes from Him.

And we are told,

 

I will bless the Lord at all times,
His praise will continually be on my lips.

 

This thankfulness and praising is to be a lifestyle rather than a practice we occasionally indulge in.

And as Chris Bowater told us,  he gives us 'songs in the night'.

 

There is a song that we sing in the darkness while we await the dawn. And those songs are precious.  That praise is priceless.

 

As Chris pointed out,  there are songs we sing because of the victory, and then there are songs that

bring the victory.

 

Today, in all things, Whatever you do,  I urge you,  give thinks and praise for all things.  Let His praise be continually on your lips.

 

And when things are good, never become enamoured of the gift apart from the giver.

He is the source,  your heavenly Father.

 

May he give you songs of praise today,  sung and unsung,  verbal and non verbal,

 

In Jesus name,

 

Amen.

Where, Then, Is Boasting?

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.


"May I never boast", says Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians,  "except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

The premise being challenged, here in Romans, and there in Galatians, is that through our own efforts, or through physical and outward things, that we can claim in ourselves some kind of righteousness that we can take credit for.

In Romans it is talking of law keeping. In Galatians it speaks of circumcision. Circumcision became a huge issue in New Testament times because a certain section of the Jewish believers were insisting that it was necessary for new gentile Christians to be cut.

And why?

Because it was an observance of the law. So in essence, the same issue. And as Paul has stated previously, if righteousness could be obtained through the law then Christ died for nothing!


In Philippians 3 Paul gives a list of some of his credentials regarding his heritage and legal status in Judaism;

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Paul, possibly above anyone else, understands the inefficiency of such 'righteousness' and the emptiness of any such boast that one would make in it. You see, even though all of the above was true of him, that had not stopped him persecuting Jesus, nor prevented him from turning into a 'murderer'. He knew that all of this was possible with the blackest of hearts. He refers to himself, in relation to his past life, as 'the chief of sinners' and elsewhere sates 'of whom I am the worst'. That is why he refers to true circumcision being one of the heart, one that circumcision itself was a living visual illustration of, a symbolic casting off of the flesh. It must be a matter on inward righteousness, that is why in the verse prior to this list he says,

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.

That is where our only boast is to be. And is not our boast. It is Christ's, because we have contributed nothing to the equation but faith, and faith itself was a gift to us from God.
 

In this day and age, and in the gentile and secular west, certainly, circumcision is not something that one would boast of, nor take pride in.

 

But there are other things.

 

As evangelicals, we often pride ourselves on having an almost Phariseeical understanding of the scriptures. But sometimes I wonder, not that there is anything wrong with having a good understanding and 'belief system', if we may not personally put a little too much stock in believing the right things. I don't in any way diminish the need for doctrinal correctness, but we must never forget what saves us. The irony of becoming a grace Pharisee is almost too much to bear. Grace and faith must always bring with them humility. Even Jesus, who 'being in very nature God' did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but humbled himself by becoming obedient to death (even death on a cross).

 

 

Paul says, I will say it again, "I will not boast in ANYTHING except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to  the world."
 

Such grace is amazing, and it is humbling.

 

 

In a world where we are told to flaunt what we have got, and exploit every opportunity to our own advantage, in a society where we regularly present our best face to the whole world via the medium of social media platforms, in a world where image matters more than ever before, where body image is a matter of both pride and shame and young lives are crushed and reshaped around issues of perception of image and identity, we find that Jesus who was God, became nothing and showed us the way to true exaltation; The path of humility and grace.

 

 

So nothing but nothing is a source of legitimate pride to us. Not looks or wealth. Not popularity nor applause. Not ministry nor gifting's, nor charm nor charisma. Not knowledge nor qualifications, nor anything.

 

 

May I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

May God bless his word to you today, as he opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, may you be able to humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you,

This day,
And all days,

Amen

Justwice

 He did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. ~ Romans 3:26

 

I entitled this blog Justwice because,  to be honest,  I wanted some intrigue in the title.  I hardly do click bait,  but there is nothing wrong with trying to arouse some interest. And secondly,  because he is Just twice.

 

He is just just.

 

This is a perfect example of how God kills two birds with one stone.

But the cross is cleverer than that.

For example,  he makes two diametrically opposed concepts such as mercy and justice and achieves both simultaneously in one act. 

 

 How cool is that?

 

If anything he kills a bird and a fish, in two separate continents with a small piece of gravel. 

God is amazing. 

The double justice here though is equally clever. 

As a justifier of the unjust (us) he could be accused of being unjust himself. If,  instead of the cross,  God had simply pardoned us for our sins,  he would not be a just God. He would be like that lawyer who defends a paedophile,  knowing their guilt.  In human cases you can call such a lawyer a proponent of human rights.  And I see the dilemma.  In a court each person before their guilt is proven,  has the 'right' to have the best version of their defence presented. Without that the whole system is flawed. 

But such a lawyer ought to feel at least slightly ethically challenged by the dilemma. 

Perhaps a better analogy is to compare God to a Judge who knowingly acquits the guilty party. 

Where then is his justice?  

He has been merciful,  certainly.  But he has most certainly not been just. 

But the cross is the fiendish cleverness of God. 

 

He justifies us whilst simultaneously punishing sin. 

 

This verse alludes to the fact that up until the crucifixion,  he had left sin unpunished, but in Jesus he both punished sin and justified the sinner who has faith in him.

 

The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men .

 

This is the 'deeper magic' that C.S. Lewis  speaks of in the classic 'The Lion,  the Witch and the Wardrobe '.

 

God tricked the Devil into performing his purposes and sealing his own destruction and undoing.

 

God's wisdom bears out in history too. 

 

Hitler; Hates and persecutes the Jewish people.  Plans their extermination.  Became the main contributor in creating the state of Israel.

 

You see,  God is working in all things,  for the good of those that love him. 

And with God nothing is impossible. 

He can be at once just and still the justifier of the unjust. 

 

Never,  never, never underestimate Jehovah. He can do anything,  and nothing can stop him.

 

You feel out of control? 

 

You feel overwhelmed? 

 

You feel stuck? 

 

Be still then,  and know that he is God.  He is working, even in this,  and his will is irresistible . 

 

He calls the things that are not as though they were. 

 

And remember,  he spoke into the darkness and created light. He formed the world by the breath of his mouth. 

 

And he calls you,  who is not, as though you were. 

 

And you will be changed. 

 

From glory to glory,  yes. And finally,  in the twinkling of an eye.

 

We will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 

 

Now we know in part,  but we shall know fully, even as we are fully known.

And we will be home. 

 

Bless you, 

And God's word be blessed to you, 

This day, 

And all days, 

Amen. 

The Homing Signal

This is a post I wrote for a Facebook status, back when I used to do a thing called 'testimonial Tuesday'. I was reminded of it via the 'On this day' app and I am posting it here because I didn't want it to be lost again for another year. These testimonies are precious.

Answered prayer seems to be the theme currently, but that is not always the case.
This testimonial Tuesday I want to share two scriptures.
Psalm 18:6
But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.
I remember being on mission in Albania, at the lowest point in my life, so far. I had come with great expectation. I had been doing a residential course for the previous year. A bunch of us youngsters all living together. And I had made some fantastic friends during that year. But a recent miscalculated romantic situation had turned things a little sour. The people I had been closest to had returned to the UK. I was a foreigner in a foreign land. I was surrounded by Christian brothers and sisters, but yet I had never felt more alone.
And then, even in times of friendship there was a present sense of alienation. That these friendships were merely convenience. If they knew the real me, I thought, they would leave sharpish.
And out there in the Albanian mountains, I literally cried myself to sleep. Such a hollow dull and profound ache in my soul. The anguish of an empty existence.
And at this low point, in my loneliness, I like the psalmist, cried out to the LORD. And he heard me.
The next day a young lady came to join our party. And rather surprisingly, she took a shine to me. We became inseparable for the two weeks we were together. And although it did turn into a rather short lived romance back in the UK, it was primarily a soul connection. A deep friendship. And I knew, the moment she arrived, she was a direct answer to my prayer. The Lord had heard me.
But It hasn't always been this way.
The second scripture I want to share is Habbukuk 1:2
'How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?'
I've lifted this out of context, because I feel the nature of frustration expressed is ubiquitous to the human experience. How many of us have said these words? I would venture that all Christians experience this at times.
I share this because this sense of alienation is ongoing. This loneliness in the presence of company has been present all my life. The young lady in Albania, proved to be a band aid on the gash of loneliness, although a very reassuring one.
I think I have been looking for deep fellowship all my life. Sometimes even when I have it.
I think there is a holy lonely restlessness, if I am honest, that cannot be filled with human relationship alone. It is the soul longing for home, it is deep calling to deep. It is the bass note resonating throughout existence, to know God, and to be known.
And it drives us to him, When there is nowhere else to turn. In the same way pain tells us we are bleeding, so we can treat the wound, this soulish longing is the symptom that points to the cause of our despair. So finally we may address it, and embrace it, because it is our homing signal.
But in a temporal sense, I have often felt lonely in my church. Friendships, historically have not amounted to much, but again more recently, I have reason for gratitude. Some very special people have come into my life in the last few years, and that temporal loneliness has resided. The Lord has once more 'heard my cry '.
And in my gratitude I do not forget, that it is a blessing, but not a replacement for the love that truly satisfies.
He who knows me. And he who loves me. Jesus.
This is my testimony this Tuesday.

Nothing But The Blood

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood--to be received by faith.~ Romans 3:25

Yes people,  this is the third blog on this verse alone (and there may yet be a couple more,  but I wanted to delve a little further into the atonement,  and more specifically how we access it.

In the same way James decries belief in God as a sole component in our salvation, (stating that even the demons believe!)

I want to suggest that it is not simply a general belief in Jesus that saves us either.

Certainly acknowledging him as the son of God is a vital organ in the body of saving faith, but it alone will not save you,  just as it won't save a demon.

What you believe about Jesus is almost, if not entirely, as important as the fact that you believe in him.

Here in this verse we have Jesus as the sacrifice of atonement.

And how this was achieved? 

By the shedding of his blood.

And how then do we access this atonement?

How does this translate into atonement for our sins?

We are here told that it is to be received by faith. And yes,  that is a good start. But the NIV (which I have quoted)  gives it a certain slant.
It might be helpful to look at another translation.

Another version (KJV) has it;

"God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood"

So we see that saving faith,  access to the atonement,  is through faith in the blood of Christ.

That is not to say a faith in the blood,  apart from Jesus.  It is not a separate entity. No. It is intrinsically linked to the person and work of Jesus Christ.  It is HIS blood.

But it is that the sacrifice itself is the focal point for our faith.

Jesus was a great teacher and a powerful worker of miracles.  But if he had not shed his blood he would offer us nothing in terms of forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation.

His blood was shed in place of ours. His life ended so that ours could begin.

It is precisely this substitutionary nature of the atonement that we need faith in.
The faith we have in the atonement is like the access code that allows us to activate the account. Without it the account may be full of credit,  but we can never touch it. And what good is that?

So it matters what we believe.

And nothing but the blood of Christ could be a sufficient offering for sin. Nothing else could pay the price.  No one but Jesus could have offered a life free from sin that made him a spotless lamb.

If anyone else had attempted to make the offering,  death would have simply and rightfully consumed them,  but because death's claim on humanity comes through sin,  it had no claim on Christ and it could not hold him.

Death where is thy sting?

We could not save ourselves.  We could never redeem ourselves from the curse.

But a single drop of the blood of Christ quenches all the fires of hell for us. It can save to the uttermost.

Nothing we can do or offer will ever surpass that.

He paid the price and there is nothing left to pay.

And the wonderful, wonderful news is that we simply have to receive it, by faith,  that God is satisfied to look on him and pardon us.

You are made clean.  You are made free.  You belong to God,  because of the blood shed,  because of the cross,  where wrath and mercy meet.

Your blood speaks a better word
Than all the empty claims I've heard upon this earth
Speaks righteousness for me
And stands in my defense
Jesus it's Your blood

What can wash away our sins?
What can make us whole again?
Nothing but the blood
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can wash us pure as snow?
Welcomed as the friends of God
Nothing but Your blood
Nothing but Your blood King Jesus

Your cross testifies in grace
Tells of the Father's heart to make a way for us
Now boldly we approach
Not by earthly confidence
It's only by your blood.

At One

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. ~ Romans 3:25

In my last blog I described how God had presented Jesus, as the solution and saviour. I used the analogy of my Mum presenting me at the school gates, to begin my day's education. But of course, When God the Father presented Christ for the engagement of his life's duties, what awaited him was slightly more ominous than the tasks that awaited me at Cholsey Junior School (as it was then) in rural Oxfordshire.

There is a dark tone to these words, and a tone that sometimes gets lost to Christian ears, ears that have become used to hearing of sacrifice and crucifixion, becoming somewhat anaesthetised to it's painful connotations and almost deaf to it's raw power.

If I said that some father or other in modern times had presented his child to be sacrificed, we would be shocked at that idea.

But often through overfamiliarity we are not shocked at the idea of Jesus being given over by his father. But we should be.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood

We should be shocked that this was a measure that was required for our fore-mentioned redemption. It was This Serious.

The doctrine of the atonement is something that has come under a lot of scrutiny over the last decade or so (and I dare say a lot longer) and particularly the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. It has been described by a prominent British Church Leader, identifying as an evangelical, as 'Cosmic Child abuse'.

You see, I sort of get where he is coming from. We preach a God of love and yet we preach a God who, in one sense could be seen to be killing his own son to unjustly take the punishment of others.
I remember a line from the film 'Quills' where the Marquis de Sade is in debate and says of God that he was the worst and cruellest out of the lot them because he had 'Strung up his own son like a side of beef'. And it was a powerful statement. But it is ill conceived and lacks understanding of the depth of God's love.

The primary things we must remember when considering the atonement are thus.

1. Jesus went to his death willingly. He was not forced.

And although we could argue from the scene in the garden of Gethsemene that he did not want to, (Father if it is possible take this cup from me), but we find rather that he wrestled internally with competing desires. His greater desire was to do the will of the Father (Your will be done, not mine). He later says that

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."~ John 10:18

2. Jesus is God.

So this is the biggie, the thing that always seems to get lost by people like the Leader who accused The God of substitutionary atonement of 'cosmic child-abuse'. Jesus and God are one. If it was abuse, which it was certainly not, God and Jesus are both guilty of it. And if the supposed crime takes place within the Godhead itself, then what is the issue? Who is to question him? Which should have been our starting point in the fist place!

At Gethsemene we have been privileged to have been granted an insight into the internal wrestling within the Godhead, but that just makes this more loving. God decided to do the most loving thing he could in sacrificing his son/himself, but it was an effort. There was a struggle, born out of the great cost. Sometimes, just occasionally, we ourselves have agonised over the cost involved in doing the right thing. But that did not diminish it's rightness.  And the cost makes it all the more loving. And Christ himself was rewarded for his sacrifice. Not only given the name above every name, but he was granted the pearl of his great price.

You.

And do you know what? This will shock you (or at least it should). He got a good deal. It was worth it. Not because you are somehow so special that you merited that sacrifice, but that because love had it's way. His great love was made complete in his sacrifice and God obtained for himself, the object of his desire; the freedom of his people.

3. God SO loved the world.

This substitutionary atonement is not fair. But the unfairness was not on Jesus. He laid down his life of his own accord. No, what is not fair is that we get 'justified' when we have done nothing to earn it. We contribute absolutely nothing, zero, zip, nada to our salvation, but we are recipients of it, none-the-less.

Why?

Because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
 

I heard a talk recently in which another preacher was quoted. We are told in Matthew's gospel that a good father will not give his child a snake when it asks for a fish, or a stone when it asks for bread. This preacher asked the question (I am paraphrasing) 'how could God give us, his children, this bread?' (salvation) and the answer was; because he gave to his other son, a snake.

 

God put our need above his own comfort. And that demonstrates his great love for the world.

God demonstrate his own love for us in this, that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.

Atonement, for us, means being 'At One' with God. And that was only possible because the price for our sins was paid, By God, in Jesus. We often think of the cross as Jesus' sacrifice. But I try to remember that the sacrifice made by the Father was more than equal to it.

Imagine watching your perfect and innocent son being crushed and having all the resources at your disposal to stop it, and yet holding back in your great love for those who were crushing him? It can't really be contemplated or borne. It is unfathomable.

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.

 How great the pain of searing loss -
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

 

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life -
I know that it is finished.

 

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart -
His wounds have paid my ransom.

 

 

God bless you,

This day,
And all days.

 

All In The Presentation; Jesus Christ For President

So now the speculation is over. Eighteen months of campaigning have come to an end and the newest 'leader of the free world' has been declared to be Donald Trump.
 

I am going to resist commenting specifically on politics, well policies at least. I find myself in a curious position these days. Precisely because of my faith I find I cannot endorse whole heartedly left or right wing views. I find that, for example, people who are pro-immigration are very often people who are pro-abortion. I will leave you to decide which of those issues I support and which I take issue with. I have my political leanings, for sure, but there seems to be, for someone whose foundation for belief is the word of God, no one ideology that can possibly incorporate my views. The Kingdom is beyond politics. The Kingdom is my true country of origin and it supersedes all other allegiances.
 

Whatever the good or ills of a Trump presidency, the result for many, was a shock.

The scriptures say that we should judge a tree by it's fruit. Fruit takes time to grow and develop. Fruit is a real evidence of the quality of the tree, and of the environment around it.

All we have seen thus far of Trump is foliage. You can tell a lot about the fruit that will come by the foliage and the flower.

Apple blossom will not produce lemons, but rather, unsurprisingly, apples.

The amount of blossom indicates the size of the crop to come.

But you will never know the quality of the fruit until you see and taste it.

For 18 months Clinton and Trump and all the other candidates who fell by the wayside, waged an assault on the American publics attention as they vied for votes.

They presented themselves as a solution to what they perceived to be the nation's problems.

And not only did they present themselves, but they presented the version of themselves that they perceived would be most appealing.

Perhaps Trump, more than any other, was his uncensored self. (You would have to believe so) But let me tell you that that in itself is a presentation. They will also have had advisors on speech and fashion and every aspect of their appearance. There can hardly have been an angle that was not considered in this presentation. The stakes are so high that nothing is left to chance.

They presented their 'best side'.

We will see if the president lives up to the presentation, and if the fruit is as the flower.

Presentation, at least in election, it would seem, is everything.

I have held back on putting the usual verse at the top of today's blog because I wanted you to read it now.

And here it is;

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. ~ Romans 3:25

 Now God is not appealing for your vote, let's get that straight. He does not have need of us, or of our approval. But just focus on the first part of that verse for a moment. God presented Christ.

1. God presents Jesus as the solution.

The problems of the world, as Paul has been hitherto at great pains to convey to us, are manifold, but they boil down to the sin that he has been describing.

And just as Trump and Clinton presented themselves and their views as the solution to the problems of the world that they occupy, God presents Jesus as the solution to the problems of the world. The solution to sin; The atonement.

2. God presents his best side.

I have to be careful here. I am not saying The Son is better than The Father, but rather that The Son (He and The Father being one) highlights the most incredible aspects of Him. Jesus is described as the exact representation of His being. Jesus said, if anyone has seen me, they have seen The Father. And in Hebrews he is described as The radiance of The Father's Glory.  Just in case you didn't get that, allow me to (perhaps somewhat patronisingly) point out that that is the shiniest bit. The brightest bit of all. As if God's glory wasn't awe inspiring enough, Jesus is the very radiance of that; the source and the centre from which it emanates and illuminates. And in being thus glorified, unlike Trump, he does not take the glory for himself, but rather with it, he glorifies The Father.

Listen. Jesus is the best God has to offer.

3. God presents his Son

Now, every morning I would be presented at the school gates by my mum. She would present her son. On a couple of occasions he would surprise his mother by presenting himself on her doorstep an hour or so later!

And when I was at school I would have to answer the call for the register. They would call my name and I would reply, Present!

In truth I was only present, most of the time, in body only. My ,mind and my spirit were often elsewhere. I digress.

On the first Christmas day God dropped his son off at the school gates, so to speak. He presented him to the world. If you have seen the Disney movie 'The Lion King', you will remember that the new-born prince Simba was held aloft for all the animals to pay homage.

But Christ did not have a grand arrival.

He was acknowledged by shepherds and Magi, sure. but by and large his coming was uneventful. Certainly on the world stage, it went unnoticed. No ear can hear his coming, as the carol has it.

You see, in the presentation, Jesus was never about show and image, or pomp or ceremony. Born in a stable, the son of a carpenter. But somehow this just highlights his majesty, because true glory cannot be hidden. It is not just gold that glitters. Jesus was and is the genuine article.


And he was, for 33 years, very present. He lived, and he lived, laughed and loved fully. He was present.

And he was presented to his people, as he arrived in Jerusalem, hailed as the Messiah.

But the praise of people and the presentation of their adoration proved to be froth, at best, with no substance.

And then he was presented to the whole world as he was lifted up on a Roman cross for all to see. And they saw. And they mocked, and they jeered.

And when he had died and been laid in a tomb, God raised him from the dead and presented him again to the world, the victor over sin and death.

Vindicated and glorified.

Jesus presented himself to the disciples and many others before he ascended into heaven.

And then he gave the task to us of presenting him to the world, through the gospel and with the power of the Holy Spirit as their hope and saviour.

That this man, the man Christ Jesus, is the only true leader of the free world, because those he leads, he sets free. If the son sets you free then you are free indeed.

4. Jesus will present himself to the world.

And he will present himself again to the world, when he returns in power, but this time not only as saviour, but as King and judge.

So, to (mis)quote Woody Guthrie; It's Jesus Christ for President. Let the hallelujah's ring.

Justified

 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:23-24

 

I have spent a good deal of time this week looking at how mankind is in sin. And unlike the presidential election,  the outcome of that study was always pretty certain.  I am not surprised at how Paul describes the human state... Mainly because I live on a daily basis with the reality of that.

I have been a Christian,  intermittently,  for about 35 years of my 43 years of life and I have understood this for all of them,  that a darkness lurks in the heart of my desires. That,  as Paul says,  when I would do good,  evil is present with me (Paraphrase).

 

And although,  as I stated yesterday, a time comes when I think,  but surely I would be better by now?

 

You know,  more sanctified.

 

I don't know why so much is made of the mystery of the paradox between free will and predestination.  Forget that mystery,  what about the one of so called sanctification?

 

Glory to glory,  as my mum would say politely,  'my foot'! (insert the name of a preferred limb/appendage)

 

It sure doesn't feel like it.

 

I got quite stunned when I asked a respected member of our congregation,  one who I have known all my adult life, one who is a dedicated man of prayer and commands a respect and admiration for his humble and disciplined life, what he thought about sanctification.

 

I had expected,  when I first began to serve Jesus,  that I would indeed be changed from glory to glory.  The reality had been somewhat of a disappointment.  If anything with age my character disintegrated as I become more and more curmudgeonly and less tolerant or others and increasingly set in my ways!

 

I was expecting some pearl of wisdom from him, something to give me hope that some kind of change could be expected and that there was some key to unlocking it.

 

This gentleman is in his eighties.  He has a lot of wisdom to bring.

 

He raised an eyebrow, leaned back and folded his hands across his chest,  paused briefly and then said,

 

"To be honest with you..."

 

(Yes,  yes,  what is it oh wise one?  What is your secret?)

 

"Well to be perfectly frank....."

 

(here it comes,  the diatribe about discipline,  and how tough is the road to holiness)

 

"Well, I have sort of given up, really."

 

Wow.

 

That's it?

 

Some seventy years of devotion to Christ and that's all you've got?!

 

You have given up!

 

"Yes, at my age you stop thinking change is possible and just accept it."

 

Oh man.

 

I am screwed.

 

Now I need to say a couple of things.

 

Firstly,  a couple of years after he said this I actually saw a huge transformation in this elder brother as he came into a fresh experience of God.  It is perfectly possible I caught him on an off day, or even,  as I have discovered is also perfectly possible, an off year.

 

Secondly,  there is actually wisdom in his answer.

 

I hated hearing him say it, but that is largely because I held aspirations of becoming better.

 

Although salvation is free, and there is grace,  I am not entirely satisfied with it.  What good is it if I can't feel good about myself?  (and here I expose my heart and my sin).

 

This need for approval is SO deep.

 

But if God has said that I am acceptable, then I am acceptable. Like my dear brother,  I should just give up and let sanctification take care of itself.

 

Martyn Lloyd-Jones says;

 

"The opposite of condemnation is never sanctification,  invariably it is justification."

 

Look back at the verses a moment.  All have sinned.  Yup. Check. 

We are all sinners. All under condemnation. Check.

 

"But all are justified freely by his grace!"

 

CHECK!!

 

Now when I say 'give up', I don't mean not to make an effort in your spiritual life. Absolutely not. By no means.  We are told to 'keep your spiritual zeal in serving the Lord '.

 

We should give up on our false motivations for earning approval; anyone's approval.  Not man's, not our own, and certainly NOT GOD'S.

 

Salvation is a finished work.  Grace is free. It is done.  Jesus has sat down at the father's right hand.  Sat down because his work is complete.

 

And the irony,  when we stop trying,  is that we actually start to change.

 

Justified freely by God.

 

Clean and free with all charges cleared and all debts paid.

 

The sweet peace of that.

 

Rest in that.

 

Satisfy yourself not in your works,  but in Jesus and in his finished work.

 

Because, to quote John Piper,

 

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."

 

Amen.

Apart From The Law

 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all^[h]who believe. ~ Romans 3:21-22

So we're all sinners and we all stand condemned under the law. The previous verse has told us 'by law is knowledge of sin'. This is the purpose of the law,  to show us our inability and to lead us to Christ.

Interestingly it is the very thing that the tltree we ate from offered; a knowledge of good and evil.

So we know instinctively what is good and bad.

The law purports to show us a way back into righteousness and God's favour, for those bothered by this state of affairs,  but what it actually does is to highlight our very inability to do so.

And then Jesus turns up,  and in his lifetime (in regards to his 33 years on earth),  as I have previously stated,  raises the bar even further.

So here is the state of affairs; we are sinners,  incapable of pleasing God,  Incapable of keeping the law,  and (if we actually could keep it) incapable also of honouring the spirit of the law by policing our interior life. We stand condemned by our actions,  our hearts,  our thoughts and the law.

In short,  we are screwed.

Or at least we would be.

We would be screwed without Jesus.

Hallelujah. The righteousness being revealed,  exposed and flaunted is apart from the law!

It never ceases to amaze me how when the righteousness I could not obtain by myself,  or by keeping God's commands has been bestowed on me, I still keep trying to be good enough.

There is only one way we are declared righteous and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.

You cannot earn it.

You cannot buy it.

You cannot keep it by effort.

It is a gift.

And the moment you stop trying to earn it and simply receive it, is the moment the healing can begin.

Christmas is looming.  If I gave my ten year old son a new X-box as a gift (yeah right,  I might stretch to a game) and his response was to leave it in the box,  go outside,  take up a bucket and sponge and start to wash my car,  I would be a little perplexed.

If on going out to speak to him and asking him what he was doing, he were to say 'I want to be worthy to receive such a gift', firstly I would laugh. And when I was done laughing I would hug him. And I would say to him,

Darling,  don't be so stupid.  It's a gift.  You don't have to earn it. I gave it to you to make you happy.  I gave it to you because I love you. I want you to enjoy it.  Now go back inside,  take it out of the box and start enjoying it.

Can I be frank?

I think we make God laugh an awful lot.

This righteousness is apart from the law.  It cannot be earned. Not ever. It can only be enjoyed,  and that takes a certain mentality.

Let's stop disqualifying ourselves and simply recieve the free gift of righteousness.  After all,  although it is free to us,  that does not mean that it is not costly. And just as I would be hurt if the X-Box stayed in its packaging,  I believe Jesus would be saddened by our not enjoying the gift he paid the ultimate price for, in order to bless us.

Father,  we recieve your free gift of righteousness,  thanking Jesus,

This day,
And all days,

Amen. 

Original Sinners

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
¹² They have all turned aside~ Romans 3:10-12

Just as their is nothing adult about adultery,  there is nothing original about sin.

We have been sinning from the beginning,  and no one,  since Adam has escaped the flawed nature passed down to us,  so generously by our ancestors.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God~ Romans 3:23 

Whether our sin amounts to murder or molestation,  or whether it consists of lies and lusts, it counts against us.

And we are in a sinful state,  as a race.  A child takes to sin like a fish to water.

We are in trouble on both counts.  We are part of this fallen race,  and so separated from God on that count and we have also deliberately and wilfully sinned.

I believe in original sin,  but I see it as a tainting of what God has made rather than a condemnation of the whole race as evil.

We fall short.  We don't achieve God's best for us.  We fail to be grateful or to give him praise as we ought.

But good things come from sinners too.  The creator's kindness and compassion is still reflected in his creation. Mankind is good and yet it is intrinsically sinful too.

The wheat and the weeds grow together,  and are inseparable until harvest.

Call me silly but I like to take comfort from that.

We have all turned aside.

This state I am in,  although I must live with it,  I do not bear full responsibility for it.  I am not a freak.  I am normal,  and this is a normal and practical problem that God has given a solution to.

We are told elsewhere that 'no temptation has seized you except that wich is common to all.'

In other words,. Don't be precious about it. Don't beat yourself up. Just deal with it.

Of course there is a personal and emotional side to our response to sin and it's solution.

But at times as a parent,  when my kid has fallen in something nasty,  he is upset enough.  I don't need to chastise him.  I just need to clean him up.  And as I do so,  my heart goes out to him. In my best moments,  my annoyance goes right out of the window.

And sometimes I think we are just too precious about our sin.

Our heavenly Father just wants to get us cleaned up and wipe away the tears.

Jesus too,  we are told is not without sympathy because he was 'tempted in every way,  just as we are'.

And though the passage makes it clear to us that none of us get away unscathed by sin, there is a parallel passage in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah which tell us the same thing.

All we like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned,  each one, to our own way,
And the LORD has laid on Him,
The sin of us all.

He took all our sin and shame, as the song has it, when he died and rose again. And so the sting of it is gone.  You are free.

You sin?

Well here is the solution.

And if we move with supreme confidence into the benefit of this sacrifice. We will realise that it is not about us.

That is a sinful mind set.

Salvation is a factory reset.

It rightfully robs us of our centrality and it places our Father God back into the heart of our affections and interests.

And John says,

If any of you have sinned,  you should confess it to God who is 'faithful and just to forgive'. And he will 'cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What a divine exchange.  Our sins for his righteousness,  and grace to return for help whenever you need it.

God bless you,

This days,

And all days,

Amen.

Shameful Women

By trade I am a cleaner.  I don't believe I am the first person whose career trajectory went from theological student to cleaner,  but it wasn't what I was expecting,  I must admit.
 

And on one hand I am fine with cleaning. I feel little disgrace,  though it is hardly a prestigious job.  But on the other hand it is occasionally a source of embarrassment to me,  depending on the company I am in.
 

Tell certain people that you are a cleaner, (people who may have shown a prior interest in you), and there is that look. They almost regret asking.
 

But any embarrassment I feel dwindles in comparison to the awkwardness I often encounter over a certain cleaning issue.
 

(By the way,  today is a temporary departure from Romans, with a rather unconventional start, but bear with me,  a spiritual aspect is coming)
 

My ex wife of 12 yrs was very matter of fact about the issue that is euphemistically referred to as 'feminine hygiene'. She spoke openly about menstruation and felt no embarrassment about getting me to purchase her sanitary towels and tampons, even when we were just dating. She was simply not squeamish.  And later on I was exposed to all the joys of a 'moon cup'. If you don't know what that is, Google with caution.
 

Let's just say that I have been exposed in detail to every aspect of menstruation in particularly graphic technicolour. She cured me of any squeamishness I had around the subject.
 

Now I know that as you have been reading some of you have been getting rather uncomfortable (men and women, I suspect) and if that's you,  well done for making it this far.  The light is at the end of the tunnel. But we have a little way to go yet.
 

So one aspect of my cleaning involves the sanitary bins in the ladies toilets. It is not my job to empty them,  but at times they are left too long (or something such as a coffee cup gets shoved into its rather small hatch)  and they start to overflow.  So I have to deal with that.

Not the most pleasant job,  but certainly not the worst thing I have to deal with. And living with my ex proved to be a good training ground.
 

And occasionally,  especially in the case of the coffee cups,  I have aired my frustration on social media or to female colleagues and friends. Because,  primarily,  someone's ignorance has caused me a problem.
 

But my complaint is never about having to deal with it, but rather that individuals lack of consideration.
 

And now,  finally,  we get to the point. I have been shocked time and time again by the response I get from women.
 

It's a true generalisation to say that most of them apologise (Or speak in apologetic tones) for my having to see that, or to deal with it, you know,  as a man.
 

It's like there is a corporate sense of shame on the whole gender.
 

If a female cleaner has to clean a loo seat that a man has carelessly peed on and relates that tale to a man,  he will likely feel no shame (generalising)  for his sex.  He may feel a little if he is personally responsible for that mess, but would rarely accept blame.
 

Now female consideration, for me,  is the better response than male arrogance,  but strangely there is something seemingly healthier in a man's refusal to take responsibility,  at least,  certainly healthier for him.
 

He will not take blame or shame for something that has nothing to do with him.
 

But in my experience women tend to take it on themselves.
 

There should be no shame around this issue. It is a perfectly natural function,  and an amazing one at that, which brings life to the whole human race.  It is, in a sense,  a beautiful thing,  even if it has difficult implications for women.
 

Why, oh why,  you may ask,  is he prattling on about menstruation in a devotional blog, that was supposed to be about the theology of sin?
 

Why indeed.
 

I have a good friend,  who happens to be female, who asked me for an 'arrow' (blog) on shame.

I have been looking for an opportunity to express my thoughts on 'feminine hygiene' and the state of shame that seems to unnecessarily attach itself to that subject, for quite a while now. But it is not one of those things that you just 'bring up' very often, for the exact reason I am highlighting.
 

And this morning whilst cleaning it occurred to me that God was drawing my attention to it for the purposes of this blog.
 

Shame is something that affects all humanity, but it seems to play a larger role in the female experience.  A much larger one than it should.
 

I don't really have solutions to the problem of shame,  but I have a few pictures of how it works., and of God's approach to it. And the majority of those pictures contain  Jesus.
 

In the garden,  when Adam and Eve fell,  the immediate consequence of their sin was a sense of shame.
 

They hid because of their nakedness.

They moved from love and approval to fear and shame.

Fear stops you loving.  Shame stops you receiving love.

But love can stop your fear.

 

 

It is vital to note that the shame is a byproduct of the sin. It is not something that God puts on them.
 

Shaming is not Gods style.
 

The only times I know of that God speaks of shame,  it is about it's removal.

And historically,  since the man compounded the woman's sense of shame by blaming her, the woman has bourne the blame for the fall.

Although Paul refers to Eve's sin,  he makes it clear that it is in Adam than we are in sin.
 

Now let's leap forward to our redeemer and his life.

Women bearing shame came to Jesus often,  or were cast across his path.

It is in Jesus that we see best God's compassion towards the shamed.
 

Take the woman caught in adultery.  In the very act.

How shaming is that?
 

And it's not the man that is dragged out into the street, is it?

They are both culpable,  are they not?
 

To be dragged naked (or half naked) out into the street, disorientated and humiliated? How must that have been?  How shaming! And Jesus,  without ever condoning her sin, defends and honours her in the most profound way.  Firstly he uses the sin of the accusers to level the playing field.

Who among you is without sin? Let him cast the first stone.
 

And now the woman's shame turns into everyone feeling a sense of shame.
And he does not condemn her.
 

Neither do I condemn you,  he says.  The only one who righteously could have.

Then he addresses the root of her shame

Go and leave your life of sin.
 

Where shame is 'deserved'. This (the above) is the pattern.
 

You are not a freak.  You are human.  We sin.  Now be transformed in yourself without shame.
 

Then there is the woman with the issue of blood. A woman who certainly did not 'deserve' her shame.  For many years the flow of blood did not cease.  She was ritually and culturally seen as a disgrace.  She lived every day with a sense of shame.  It was so huge for her that she spent all her money on doctors,  in an attempt to rid herself of this condition.
 

These days, I hope, she would be viewed with compassion but then she was seen as unclean. If she even touched someone they became contaminated. She was risking her life even by being in this crowd.
 

But something in Jesus gives her hope.  She knows,  if she can only just touch him,  she will be well,  and she scorns the shame,  bravely pushing through the crowd of hangers on,  and manages to reach out and touch him.
 

The moment she does, she is healed.
 

And Jesus,  noticing that power has gone out from him, does not let her slip quietly back into the crowd.  He calls her our and honours her for her faith,  to stand 'clean' for the first time, to look on the crowd and feel no disgrace.
 

Jesus emboldens the shameful. He gives hope.  He heals and honours.
 

And then there was the woman who anointed him at Bethany with an expensive perfume.
She has such a flagrant disregard for the shame she would incur because of her great love for him.

The scent we are told,  would have been the equivalent of a year's wages. My annual wage is about £15, 000 being a cleaner,  the average annual salary,  I'm told,  is around £25, 000.  In either case,  that is some expensive perfume. That's a sizable donation to Oxfam.  A lot of people could be helped with that. There is a shame, in a way,  of the waste of it. The disciples even say so.
 

This extravagant love has disregarded shame.
 

And Jesus says that because of it, she will be honoured wherever the gospel is preached,  as I am doing now.
 

Jesus bestows honour on the shamed.
 

There is no place for shame.
 

Jesus takes our shame away.
 

A while ago a dear brother,  who was, in my opinion,  by far and large the most flamboyant and least self conscious worshipper in our congregation,  (possibly that I have ever met) revealed that God had spoken to him about his sense of shame and shown him that Jesus had taken all his shame, and that,  from now on he was casting shame aside,  to worship without reservation.
 

And he was good to his word.
 

But I was thinking,  'You? You feel a sense of shame?! '

Because I saw him as completely uninhibited.
 

But that was not how he regarded himself.

And whatever came of that season for my brother,  it taught me something.
 

Shame has many,  many levels.
 

It goes so deep.
 

While you are ashamed, you are not free.

And for me,  what happened at the cross was the divine exchange of shame.

Jesus took our shame.
 

And we are told,  in Hebrews;

Let us go to him, outside the camp,  bearing his disgrace.

It seems only fair to me that if he bore our shame, we should bear his.

He says,  if anyone is ashamed of me or my words,  I will be ashamed of them before my Father.

But to bear his disgrace in truth,  is an honour and a privilege.

HIS shame is no shame.
 

He scorned the shame and humiliation of the cross.
 

He shamed sin itself,  making a public spectacle of it,  triumphing over it by the cross.  His 'shame' became his honour and victory.

The Christian has no place for shame,  but to give it to Jesus and to take his on ourselves instead.  His shame is easier to bear.  His burden is light.

Sisters (and brothers)  I hope we can learn from these women and,  more importantly,  from Jesus,  who honours us so preciously,
 

Amen.

Absolute Truth

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.~ Romans 3:3-4

What does God say regarding the truth of his promise?  "I am not a man that I should lie,  or a son of man that I should change my mind".

I have said it before; we Christians,  particularly evangelicals, often regard ourselves as guardians of truth. That we hold truth,  but the deeper truth is that the truth holds us.

In Paul's description of the armour of God (a useful metaphor for the principles that keep you protected in a spiritual battle) he refers to truth as a 'belt'. In the case of the typical armour of a Roman guard,  who Paul was likely observing as he wrote from his imprisonment, a belt was the piece of kit that held the whole ensemble together.

Truth is the foundation.  It is the undergirding and underpinning principle that we stand on.

In the psalms we are told that righteousness and truth are the foundations of his throne.

In an age where truth is often seen as subjective this concept grates,  culturally. People say,  I have found 'my truth'. Or I'm glad that is true for you!'

And let's be real about it. Part of the reason I place my faith in Jesus is because of subjective truth. If it wasn't 'true for me', I probably wouldn't believe it.

But I believe that my subjective truth has been drawn into confluence with his objective truth. We flow together,  and as long as we do, our truth is truth.

So as a Christian,  when my 'truth' starts to depart from his,  I instinctively know it must be re-examined.

The only area we find in our culture where absolute truth seems to be adhered to is where it is convenient for the adherent.

So 'science' gets wielded about by people who laud it's as absolute truth as long as it justufies their position,  particularly in relation to God.

But they forget, often,  that science itself is based on scepticism and unbelief.  That everything is subject to disproval by new discovery. Nothing is sacred.  Nothing is beyond question.

But here is the thing.

My belief in something does not affect its existence one iota.

It is or it isn't.

I may say that the phone on which I write this is in fact a cabbage. But it would not cease to be a phone.

Does a rose by any other name not smell as sweet? It's is still a rose. Call it what you will.

You don't believe in God? Okay. But your unbelief won't save you if you're wrong.

But I love what this text says.

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 

Unbelief is another way of saying faithlessness. But what the text says is that your lack of faith does not affect his faithfulness. 

He is still faithful to you.

You don't believe in God,  but he believes in you.

He has not stopped caring for you, providing for you, or loving you. Not for a second.

As we saw earlier,  his patience with you, his kindness to you,  is that you would turn to him.
And he remains faithful. 

And for as long as this window we call 'life' is open, there is time to reconcile 'your truth' to his truth, to have confluence,  to flow together with God,  your father.

He is true to himself. He cannot lie. This truth can hold you back,  or it can hold you close.

The hardest thing to believe, in the end,  is what we all desperately want to believe.

Yes, you are valued,
Yes, you have purpose,
Yes, you are loved.
Yes, their is forgiveness.
Yes, there is hope.
This storm will pass,
And the anchor will not sway,
The foundations will not falter,
The truth will not fail,

Not today,
Not ever,

Amen.

True Jew

   "he is a Jew who is one inwardly"

Are You Jewish?

There is an argument here that Jewishness is not a legalistic,  nor religious thing.  It's not even racial.

Paul a 'proud' Jew,  loves his people and his nation.  Let's be clear about that,  but the line he develops is one of a spiritual Jewishness. It supercedes the requirements of law, religion and race.

This is not to say that God does not have a special relationship with his covenant people.  God does not go back on his promises.

That is why in the previous paragraph he speaks of judgement coming first to the Jew, but then so does honour.

We are told that 'there is no partiality with God'.

I think that he is saying,  in the balance it all works out.

So having made it clear that those without the law are in peril,  as are those with the law,  he moves on to deal with the very religious,  who claim to have special favour with God,  as teachers of the law and who take strength from their racial privilege; 'making their boast in God'.

Those people will make much of their being circumcised.  Remember David's attitude to Goliath? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? That someone is uncircumcised is a disgrace to them,  in their eyes. (I am not commenting on David,  but highlighting the cultural attitude)

But Paul rightly points out that one can be Jewish on the outside but inwardly they are effectively uncircumcised.

And then Paul says something that would be staggering to his contemporary Jewish readers (remember he is writing primarily to gentiles).  He says that;

"He is not a Jew who is one outwardly"

But rather;

"he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God."

He has already made allusion to those who fulfill the law apart from the law,  saying that they are a law unto themselves.

I believe this is a development of that.

He describes the gentile who keeps the righteous requirements of the law as being those who have circumcised hearts.

Listen,  Jewishness is about covenant.  And the whole Jewish faith is a picture of what God would do in Jesus.

Even at the beginning God made a covenant with Abraham,  saying that through him all nations would be blessed.  The Jews were chosen to be a light to the gentiles. And Jesus,  the pinnacle of Jewishness described himself as the 'light' not of Israel only,  but 'of the world'.

God's love for humanity was always inclusive.  He made a way for us to all be Jewish.

In the prophets it was spoken of,  that God would make a new covenant,  that he would write his laws in our hearts; that he would change our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.

And now,  through the blood of Jesus,  believer,  you are in a covenant relationship with God,  a blood that speaks a better word than the blood of bulls,  a blood that is effective and powerful and that can clean you,  not just ceremonially,  but on the inside.  A blood that gives you a new and circumcised heart.  Where by your very (new) nature,  you can do the things that please God.

In essence,  you are a true Jew.

A caveat here. 

I believe that God has very much still got a plan for Israel and for the Jewish people.  I do not believe in replacement theology.  No. This is about us being grafted in to the vine of Israel.

And the wonderful thing is that anyone can be 'Jewish' in spirit.

Because that is an inward thing.

And he has made this most wonderful way with his amazing grace.

Thank God for Jesus,

This day,

All days,

Always,

Amen.

Secrets and Lives

And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.~ Romans 2:16

I am starting at the end.  It's a very good place to start.

But,  ends can be beginnings.  As the meme has it,  a man holding up a placard saying "The beginning is nigh!".

And if we speak in apocalyptic terms,  (I almost feel like I am back in Revelation) then this verse is highly appropriate.  Because it speaks of the judgement of the final day.

But it is at the end of this paragraph (2:1-16) that Paul wraps up his examination of God's righteous judgement, where he expounds the various combinations of behaviours and cultural backgrounds,  with the assertion that Christ will judge all of these lives. 

But here is a breakdown.

1. There are those who have no law,  and therefore do not fulfil God's requirements.
2.  There are those who have the Law and cannot keep it.

Both parties will be judged.

Both are up a certain creek in want of a certain rowing implement.

And then there is,  mysteriously, another category.

3. Those who do not have the law,  and yet somehow keep it.

I remember being set a question when I was at bible college on this very verse... But unfortunately I cannot remember my answer.  But it is certainly,  at first,  a little perplexing.

We know that Paul later makes reference to 'all' having 'fallen short of the glory of God'.

He seems to be contradicting himself.  How can they keep a law they do not have?  Are there special types who are exempt from the need of salvation?  He says that these people are 'a law unto themselves'.

Here are the vereses in question;

"for when the gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law these,  although not having the law,  are a law unto themselves."

It never really occurred to me before that he was not talking about unbelievers.  I could be wrong,  but I think now that the third category he refers to are not naturally 'good gentiles'. Remember he says,  if righteousness could be obtained apart from the law then Christ died for nothing.

I think (and I freely admit that this is speculative) Paul is making a sideways reference to Gentile Christians,  such as the ones he is writing to.  And the clue to why I think this is here,  in verse 15;

"Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness"

That sounds to me like the kind of believer that the prophets speak of when they talk of  God writing his law in the hearts of men, when they speak of creating a new heart from a heart of stone.

That sounds to me like the description of the the postage new birth Christian.

And that for me,  fits the overall argument much better.

But the key is here,  that no matter what category you fall into;

Christ will judge all.

And he sees our secret lives. He knows the deeds done in secret,  he knows the thoughts of our hearts.  He will not miss a single heartbeat,  not a breath nor a sigh,  in his scrutiny.

We are told that what is done in secret will be proclaimed from the rooftops.

In the parable of the wheat and the weeds we ate told that they will be separated,  the wheat from the chaff.

Now that sounds like a tricky and intricate job,  but Jesus is up to it.

And here is the message.

According to my gospel,  Paul says.

This judgement is the gospel,  or rather a large and significant part of it.

A gospel without judgement is no gospel.
Or at least is only half a gospel.

What, I ask myself,  when thinking about universalists,  do they think Jesus is saving us from?

They reduce Christ to a self help guru.

They make a joke of the cross.

But that God gives us a new heart,  where we come to do by nature the things required of us,  and that when Judgement comes we have no need for fear.

That my friends,  is truly gospel.  Thay is good news.  The Gospel is bad news for good people (people who think themselves good)  but it is good news for bad people.

And that means you,
And it,  thank God,  means me.

God we live to thank you for Jesus,

This day,

And all days,

Amen.

From Blindness to Kindness

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.  Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?~ Romans 2:1-4
 

There is a rather cheesy old saying that goes 'Whenever you point a figure at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you'. and it carries some weight.

Some people seem to take some kind of comfort in having someone to be superior to. But Jesus is very specific about those kinds of people (he says, whilst feeling superior to those horrible judging types!). He says that 'Whatever measure you use to judge people it will used 'unto you''. (Matt 7:2) and he then goes on to paint a comedic word sketch of probably the funniest joke in the bible.

 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

You see, as funny as the illustration is, it's point is deadly. The point is, really, both from Paul, and from Jesus, that everyone is flawed. But who is in the greater danger? The one who knows they have a problem, and can therefore seek help, or the one who can only see fault in others and will therefore never look for help. A doctor is for the sick rather than the healthy.

And when we talk of our state of sin before God, the stakes are raised instantly to critical levels.

The key here is that Paul says that 'now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth'. So, you can fool others, you can even fool yourself with your denial, but you cannot for a second, fool God.

We are like the children that have been told in a game of hide and seek that 'so long as you can't see them, they can't see you'. All very well if that instruction is the difference between hiding in the middle of a field, or getting into a wardrobe and shutting the doors. But if it is the difference between the field and a boy standing in the middle of the field simply with his eyes shut, we see how ineffective the advice is. And we, if we say we have no sin, deceive ourselves, and are like that child. Just because we say that we cant see the sin, it's ridiculous to assume God doesn't.

If you remember my blog from a few posts back, you will be aware of how I talked about Jesus 'raising the bar' on the legal requirements for righteousness so that we will know that we need him to save us because it is impossible for us to save ourselves. This is an allusion to that principle.

Firstly, you break the rule by judging someone else for breaking the rule, so you have lost the argument before you have even started really.

And secondly, you have not understood, that it is God's kindness that leads you to repentance. In other words, he has been aware of your sin the whole time and shown you patience, forbearance and kindness, allowing you time to turn and come to him, and yet you have hardened yourself in denial and in judging others, rather than repenting.

And I am taken back to yet another of Jesus' wonderful illustrations; that of the tax collector and the Pharisee.

You will remember that the tax collector beats his breast and cries out ' God have mercy on me, a sinner!'

But the Pharisee addresses his prayers to God in a superior tone, saying;  ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I don't know about you, but I know who I identify with.... and it is the tax collector. Can you even imagine the audacity it would take to recommend yourself to God on your own merit, or to assume that because other people are obvious 'sinners' that you are somehow exempt?

I have never met a Christian who expressed themselves in such a way, because we all at some level understand this concept of grace. But I have heard other people defend themselves as 'basically a good person', even in the context of 'going to heaven'.

And , you see in these verses, the characters Paul describes are biting the very hand that feeds them, They do not even realise that they are being shown mercy in his patience, but the God they call upon to vindicate them, will be the be the very one to condemn them.

The 18th century puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards puts it even more starkly in his sermon 'Sinners in the hands of an angry God' Where, in an illustration, he describes God dangling them (sinners) over the fiery abyss, like spiders by their thread and all the while they curse God, who is the only thing between them and consignment to the flames.

I see this in light of that. Later on he talks of how sinners are treasuring up wrath for themselves, to be revealed on the day when wrath is unveiled. It is the exact reverse of where Jesus tells us; Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust can not eat away.

Jesus said, 'where you treasure is there your heart will be also'

And here it is . You can store up wrath, or you can store up heavenly treasure by grace. And you can collect the rewards of either.

But for us, and if you are reading this as a Christian, I presume you are included in this, who have understood the kindness of God, what is it that drew you? Was your experience of salvation merely a relief from the judgement you were under? Was it simply a legal transaction that you feel you had little connection to? Or did you begin to finally understand that you are loved eternally by a compassionate father? Even in his confrontation of our sin, his love for us was so evident.  Why even bother confronting us unless he cared about us and our situation?

But his love goes deeper still.

Later we are told;

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.~Rom 5 6-8

And the implication of God's kindness leading us to repentance is not simply a once and for all thing, but it is a pattern for life and for building your character in your spiritual journey. It is always an understanding of God's loving kindness to us that brings us transformation. It is never through effort and determination and hard discipline that we change, but we respond to his love.

As the Hymn has it,

Joyful, Joyful, Lord we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of Love,

Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Hail Thee as the sun above.

 

 



 This morning, let your heart unfold before God, responding to his love as a flower responds to the warmth of the Sun, because you are coming to understand a little more of the depths of his infinite love for you.

God keep you in his love,

This day,

And all days,

Amenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6SYZtMVyhc